Qiyas
Part 4 in a series
The sources of sharia we have explored so far are common to both the Sunni and Shi’i traditions. This is to be expected; they are textually grounded, even if the justification for ijma remains a source of dissent to this day. The next source is where we begin to diverge. Qiyas, or “deductive reasoning,” is considered one of the four main sources of law by Sunni jurists, but rejected entirely by the Shi’a.
The Shi’a believe that qiyas is impermissible because of its tendency to give rise to multiple conflicting perspectives. Unlike ijma, where unanimity or at least broad consensus is a necessary state before any law can be derived, qiyas can come from the individual and be subject to the individual’s biases and flaws. The Sunni argument is that, properly performed, qiyas obeys tight logical rules and therefore the room for individual error is minimized. There is more to it than this, as we shall see when we cover aql, but this is the general thrust of the argument.
Reasoning through deduction (or analogy, as it is often called) in the Sunni tradition proceeds as follows. When you encounter a problem that can be solved with qiyas, you begin by finding the precedent case, or asl. The ruling on this case has already been provided. The new case is the far’. You find the principle at work guiding the ruling in the original case (‘illah) and you apply that principle to the new case, generating a rule (hukm). The classic example, which is always used to illustrate this method, is the prohibition on intoxicants. The precedent case (asl) is the prohibition on drinking wine. The ‘illah is the prohibition of intoxication, which is explicitly spelled out in the original ruling. The new case, far’, is the question of whether it is ok to use other intoxicating drugs, such as cocaine. The hukm that is generated is that it is forbidden to use other intoxicants, because the principle that intoxication is forbidden can apply.
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Notably, the original ruling should have been made on the basis of the Quran or sunnah. Qiyas only extends so far. It is supposed to be a fairly clear principle at work, though, so if you want to apply qiyas from a ruling that was already made based on qiyas, the original asl should still apply. If it does not, then you should not have been making that ruling in the first place. This is not a universally held attribute; schools differ on this, and on whether ijma can be used. We will discuss this more when we get to the individual schools.
In order for a ruling to stand as asl, several things must be true. It must be on a matter of law, not belief. The ruling in the original case — the hukm — must be operative, that is, not abrogated by a later ruling (this can happen). The ruling must be rational and must be understood to be generally applicable, not a special exception.
There are a few other requirements for qiyas to apply. The new case, far’, must not be covered by any other method, Quran, sunnah or ijma. The principle at work, ‘illah, must be clear and not hidden in the text. It must be constant between cases, not varying based on differences of time, person, location or situation. It must properly apply to the situation at hand. It must be transferable, or not a special case as described above. And of course it must not counter the ruling of the text.
Based on all of these considerations, a particular case of qiyas can be said to be either definitive (qat’i) or probable (zanni). This operates in a similar fashion to the strength of sunnah based on the isnad of their hadith, as discussed in a prior article. Qiyas can also said to be superior, inferior or equal; that is, the ‘illah or principle at work can be said to apply better in the new situation than the original one, worse, or the same.
Beyond this, there are many rules for how qiyas can be applied to individual cases; what types of questions can be answered by qiyas; and so on. In the modern era, technology and social change are causing innovations much more rapid than anything experienced by the Caliphate-era Muslim world. Qiyas is therefore an important pillar of Islamic courts and a source for many new rulings on topics that Mohammed (pbuh) never experienced.
I hope this series remains interesting and instructive. As always, please contact me with any questions, concerns, thoughts, complaints, etc.
